HONG KONG (UCAN): At least 12 Uyghur students in Egypt were arrested and deported back to China last month in a demonstration of how far-reaching China’s arm is when it comes to keeping a grip on the beleaguered Muslim minority.

Since July, it has been reported that 150 Uyghur students in Egypt were rounded up and told there were some irregularities with their residency papers.

CAIRO (SE): Pope Francis began his epic and much publicised visit to Egypt on April 28 by stressing that one of the prime obligations of a religious leader is to denounce violations of human rights and expose attempts to justify hatred in the name of God, in speaking to an International Peace Conference hosted by the seat of Islamic wisdom in Cairo, the Al-Azhar University.

Arguably the main event of his two-day visit, it was the first appointment on the agenda after a courtesy call to the president of the country, Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi.